Nicholas Sparks' The Longest Ride Starts A Bidding War In Hollywood

Because they're made for so little money, Nicholas Sparks adaptations don't need to be $100 million blockbusters to be considered successful.For example, take a look at the recently released Safe Haven. While the movie only opened at number three at the box office during Valentine's Day weekend, in just six days it has already made $34 million, which is just fine for a flick that cost just $28 million to make. So as long as the author keeps pumping out books we'll keep seeing movie studios developing adaptations - which is why this news story should come as a surprise to exactly nobody.

Deadline reports that the latest big bidding war in Hollywood is for Sparks' next novel The Longest Ride. While the site doesn't specify exactly which studios are going after the project, it looks as though a seven-figure deal could be made for the book and that whoever winds up with it will be aiming for a Valentine's Day 2015 release date.

The story is described by the site as having "two intertwining love stories," one involving and old man in a car accident reminiscing about his deceased love, and the other centering on a "young art history major and a handsome bull rider who fall in love despite coming from completely different backgrounds." According to the UK book outlet Waterstones,the novel will be on shelves later this year on September 24th.

The project will be the ninth book that Sparks has gotten turned into a movie, dating back to 2002's A Walk To Remember.